The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus 26:28 Komentář

For who would choose to fatigue himself if was not to gain any good from his labor? So then he also who sows words, and tears, and confession, unless he does this with a good hope, will not be able to desist from sinning, being still held down by the evil of despair. But just as that farmer who despairs of any crop of fruit will not in the future hinder any of those things that damage the seeds, so also he who sows his confession with tears but does not expect any advantage for this will not be able to overthrow those things that spoil repentance. And what does spoil repentance is being again entangled in the same evils. “For there is one,” we read, “who builds, and one who pulls down; what have they gained more than toil? He who is dipped in water because of contact with a dead body and then touches it again, what has he gained by his washing?” Even so if someone fasts because of his sins and goes his way again and does the same things, who will listen to his prayer? And again we read, “If someone goes back from righteousness to sin, the Lord will prepare him for the sword,” and, “As a dog when he has returned to his vomit and become repugnant, so is a fool who by his wickedness has returned to his sin.”